WASHINGTON, Mar 31U.S. and EU diplomats on Wednesday held their first high-level meeting on Russia, during which they discussed additional steps to isolate the Russian economy, according to a joint statement released by the State Department. The meeting was held in Washington, D.C. The American side was represented by US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, the European Union — Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora. «The parties welcomed the coordination between the US and the EU in implementing export control measures in response to Russian aggression and discussed continuing close cooperation with the G7 to ensure strict implementation of these measures. They also discussed new steps to further isolate Russia from the US and EU economies, as well as the international financial system,» the statement said. During the meeting, as follows from the document, the parties also agreed to continue to call China does not provide «any support» for the Russian special operation in Ukraine, and also does not try to help Moscow bypass the sanctions imposed by Western countries.China and India are concerned about the impact of sanctions on the global economy. In addition, US and EU diplomats agreed to hold a new high-level meeting on Russia at the end of 2022. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
